Figure Size
In the favorite gaming period of WWII, 25-28mm figure size dwarfs the other categories with 28mm Heroic and 15-18mm coming in at second and third places. Notice that 20mm or 1/76 takes up the fourth place. Are the older generations of wargamers, who came of age in the 1970s, continuing with 1/72 or 1/76 WWII wargaming or is a new age cohort picking up the reins? A question for another time, I suppose.
The 2020 survey includes a dozen choices for figure size (or scale). The units of measure vary with most choices presented in millimeters. Some are presented as a model classification such Ships, Space, or Aircraft.
Favorite period by figure size and period
Given the first choice of gaming period for each respondent, the counts of scale and favorite period were tabulated. The chart below illustrates the cross-tabulation of Game Period by Figure Scale.
What do these tabulations show?
By now, it should be no surprise to see that 25-28mm figure size dominates the first choice. 28mm Heroic comes in a distant second. After these two figure sizes, popularity drops off precipitously with 15-18mm coming in at a very distant third.
For the first place 25-28mm size, WWII is decisively, most popular game period with Fantasy and Napoleonics rounding out the top three. For 28mm Heroics, Warhammer40k leads this category decisively with WWII and Fantasy trailing in second and third. In third place, the 15-18mm figure size is led by WWII. Napoleonics and Ancients round out the top three. 15-18mm appears to be the domain of historical miniatures wargaming. After the top three figure classifications, first choice of figure size diminishes rapidly. The market dominance of the top three figure sizes is striking.
Favorite period by period by figure size
Transposing the data by putting Era (Favorite period) on the y-axis and Scale as a stacked bar within Era, provides a different perspective. As expected, WWII takes top honors with Warhammer40k, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Napoleonics, and Ancients making up the top five favorite periods.
For the second most popular period, Warhammer40k, 28mm Heroics crushes the competition. 25-28mm comes in at a very distant second. Sci-fi and Fantasy are about evenly split between 28mm Heroics and 25-28mm. Rounding out the top five gaming periods, Napoleonics and Ancients hold 25-28mm and 15-18mm as the two most popular choices in figure sizes.
Are there surprises in these results? One observation is that while 25-28mm is popular among all of the top gaming periods, 28mm Heroics is really the realm of the Fantasy/Sci-fi gamer. Any others observations of note?
Having laid the groundwork showing the relationship between game period and game type in the previous analysis and the relationship between game period and figure size in this analysis, next time, I combine these two analyses to present a three-attribute assessment of the relationships between game period, game type, and figure size. Perhaps, age group will be added into the mix as well?
As always, comments welcome.
I am finding your presentation of the data from the survey in more detail most interesting. Thanks for doing this Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
James, I am very pleased to see you find these analyses interesting. Thank you for your comment!
DeleteWell I expected 28mm (including Heroic) to be popular, but I was shocked at how dominant it is in our hobby. I can see why the magazines focus on these 'scales' as that's where the money is. 15mm I expected to be popular due to PSC, FoW, Peter Pig etc having such a broad WWII and now Moderns ranges.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see at least 6mm doing well, but a bit surprised that it came in ahead of 10mm, but maybe I shouldn't be given the 6mm Facebook group is more active than the 10mm one.
I was surpised to see 20mm still relatively popular, as at shows etc I rarely see anything games in this 'scale'. When I do it tends to be either Rapid Fire or a skirmish game.
Given the dominance of 28mm, I'd love to know what size games are played at this 'scale'? I imagine it would be skirmish and small battles, but could be wrong. When I've seen 'big battles' put on I can't help but remember Rick Priestly's quote that "It looks like a school geography field trip."
Another thing I wonder is why is 28mm so popular? Other 'scales' have equally broad figure ranges, so it can't be that. The one thought I had was that you can convert the figures easily if you want, the extra level of detail is very obvious and so maybe the choice is to do with the painting and modelling side of things? I used to enjoy this part of the hobby some 15-20 years ago, but these days it's more about the games for me, hence gaming in 6mm and 10mm.
Anyway, enough waffle from me and as always thankyou for taking the time to analyse the data Jonathan:)
Steve! Waffle as long as you like! You bring up many interesting points. I will touch one or two...
Delete20mm or 1/76 WWII Popularity. Fourth place for this scale is may be a bit surprising but my hunch is that this may be driven by age cohort. Later analysis may test this hypothesis. When I came into the hobby during the early 1970s, WWII was very popular. The only wargaming magazine I had access to in the US was Wargamer's Digest. That publication seemed to have WWII HO scale content within most issues. Large battles on large tables (or on floors) was standard fare. Of course, the games were either in HO or 1/285.
What drives demand for 25-28mm and 28mm Heroic gaming? Several factors are likely at play here including marketing, magazines, product offerings, and the shift toward skirmish gaming.
I will address your question on game size and figure size in another analysis.
Thank you for your support and encouraging words on this series of survey analyses. Very much appreciated!
I confess that I was surprised to see 25mm WWII and Nap overwhelm micro armour and 15mm Naps. 1/72nd and compatible was fairly universal for these when I was a young'un with micro armour band 25's taking over and 15mm Naps coming on hard but the world keeps turning, as it should.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the magazines and marketing are driving the trends, not following them. (baaa baaa ) :)
The world is changing, for sure, Ross! I suspect you are correct that marketing et al are driving some of this change.
Delete1/72 was universal when I was a young-un too!
There is something odd going on here, and it is probably to do with the section of the wargaming population who take WSS and do the survey. The economics of making 1/72 plastic figures in Airfix style boxes mean that the companies must be shifting large amounts, and it isn't being captured in the numbers. Perhaps their major adherents are in the former Iron Curtain countries, and so don't take part.
ReplyDeleteHi Graham. Keep in mind that this analysis is based upon a respondent's "favorite" gaming period and "favorite" figure scale. There could be, as you say, vast quantities of 1/72 plastics being moved about the world. These troop movements could be masked by non-response from the 1/72 group or driven by the fact that 1/72 is not a popular first choice among the masses.
DeleteThis may be a situation in which supply drives demand. How many of the major hobby magazines produce articles, battle reports, reviews, etc. highlighting 1/72 wargaming? In the 1970s, this slice of the action was common but is it today?
As long as you and others keep publishing your 1/72 wargaming exploits and 1/72 manufacturers continue to produce more wargaming-centric figures, there will be motivation for others to join.
Great analysis Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Ray!
DeleteSome surprises there in the very large and obvious categories, being so dominated by 28mm, especially compared with 15mm, but also noticing that, dare I say, in the more periphery subject interests, there is a much more broader range of scale preferences.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I was so surprised that 15mm didn’t get a bigger slice of the pie is that there must be huge numbers of these figures out there in collections that have been built up over many years. Could it be that the 15’s are there, present in huge numbers, but that their owners are gaming their prime interest with 28’s, which have become cheaper thanks to the infusion of plastics into the market.
1/72 is likewise one of those scales that gamers over several decades will have collected in, though probably more in WWII than anything else and the likes of Plastic Soldier Company and Armorfast have continued to inject enthusiasm, with a constant stream of new releases.
I once asked a prominent 1/72 producer, how I thought that they had missed a trick with their 1/72’s in terms of wargamer wants on a certain item and they told me that in 1/72, wargamers were but a small section of their audience and that it was the collectors that formed their main market! Which of course will never be reflected in a wargaming survey.
Thanks, as always, for your insightful and furthering the discussions comments, Norm.
DeleteThe dominance of the 25mm-28H space is eye opening, for sure. Your suggested notion that there may be vast piles of lead in the other scales laying about and gathering dust from the "Good Old Days" is one I considered too. Tastes and preferences change over time. With a current trend toward skirmish gaming and 25-28H figures, these other figures sizes may have been bumped from their first choice place in the ranking. I know my preferences change over time but being a historical, big battle wargamer, 15-18mm is at least in my Top 2.
I don't know if you recall, Andrè's observation from the German wargaming scene in that 1/72 was still very popular there. I still hold found memories of gaming in 1/72 or HO WWII or even Napoleonics in my early days. A local gaming buddy still has large WWI armies and Napoleonics in 1/72. These still collections still see the gaming table with regularity.
As for your anecdote regarding 1/72 figures and the dominance of collectors in this space, I have heard the same. Maybe I heard this story from you?
Next time, multivariate analysis is planned on these topics. You may find a surprise or two in that analysis as well.
I can't remember whether the survey asked for the average number of figures in a game. I know we like to play 15mm/18mm Napoleonics because we can fields several corps each side, and Ancients is all DBMM at the momennt.
ReplyDeleteSkirmish gaming on the other hand really seems to have taken off over the past few years with games like Saga and the new one from Too Fat Lardies, and WWII with Chain of Command and Bolt Action, and if I were predominantly playing those with only fifty or so figures a side I'd be wanting to do it with 28mm figures.
The survey does not quantify average number of figures per game besides declaring for one-on-one (obvious number there) or Big Battles having hundreds of figures. WWII skirmish gaming in 25-28mm certainly seems to be the first choice for many.
DeleteMore interesting analysis. The effort that goes into painting the detail of 28mm figures would tend to make any army completed a favourite period.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the beauty of 28mm armies. If you have more than one, how do you choose a favorite?
DeleteIt is always the most recent :-)
DeleteIndeed!
DeleteI'm another one surprised by the preponderance of 25-28mm for WWII. But that's probably more to do with my own perspective (or prejudices). I don't buy magazines or attend shows so I have no idea what the mainstream is. Even with 1:2:1 skirmishes I'd vere towards a smaller scale like 15mm for WWII.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I do not subscribe to any of the big glossy magazines so my perspective and prejudices are limited to what I see on the internet. I do subscribe to Slingshot but I am not sure that would be classified as mainstream.
DeleteI have WWII collections in 15mm and 28mm. Both of my semi-regular gaming buddies have WWII collections in 15mm and 28mm as well. One of them may even have a collection in 1/285. Still a third has a large WWII collection in 1/72-HO. I am almost certain WWII would not be classified as any of our favorite period to game.
Good work Jonathan, an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, George!
DeleteThe analysis points out both the usefulness of this rather large survey, and its many limitations (including of course a highly non random sampling, and the limitations imposed by the questions themselves).
ReplyDeletePerhaps it would be of interest to develop our own survey to be distributed via blogs, TMP, LAF and so on (maybe even a link on manufacturers websites if we got grandiose), all of which woukld do nothing to overcome the non random sampling, and might require discrete numeric inputs.
I'd be interested in knowing about a gamer's entire collection first - for each period and scale, (roughly) how many painted figures do you have? How many times have you used those figures in a game the past 2 years? Did you add to this collection in the past 2 years? Are you still planning to add to this part of your collection (ie, make purchases) in the next 2 years?
I am sure we could come up with amny other irtems of interest!
Peter, you make good points in that this is not a scientific survey. Still, with about 10,000 respondents, these results offer a glimpse of the hobby that is not often captured and rarely examined closely. I made a few suggestions to the 2020 survey to add a question or two and to rephrase others. Work to improve the survey is ongoing as more precise questioning is sought and new questions are addressed.
DeleteAs for building a survey of our own doing, that is certainly possible with today's technology. The WSS survey has a wide reach across many facets of the hobby that one we develop may not. Nonetheless, if this is project you want to tackle, I am ready to help.
As for collection size, I asked this question to be included in the 2020 survey and it was. Unfortunately, Jasper changed my request to have more granularity at the upper ends to collection size. He must have thought, "who has more than 2,000 painted figures?" Well, a lot of us do!
Thanks for your thoughtful response!
"Who has more than 2,000 painted figures?" Hah! He obviously doesn't hang out with historical miniatures gamers much, does he? My collection exceeded 2,000 figures by my mid 20's. It currently stands at well over 12,000 figures and growing; I'd imagine yours might be 2-3 times that number! :-)
ReplyDeleteHe has no idea to what level of madness we aspire! At last count, the number of painted figures in-house tops 29,000 but mine are not all 25s!
DeleteInteresting as always, 1/72 figures in soft plastic, whilst used as wargaming figures are also what I used them for when I was a child and that is toys. It still surprised me that 1/72 was as prominent as it was and that 15/18 wasn't more evident. I only collect/paint/game with 25/28mm figures although I admire those who paint in smaller scales but am not able to! Thinking about it I think I'm in the multiple thousands of figures, not sure quite how many!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Good to see you find this interesting. After the series of analyses before, results here may not have been much of a surprise. More interesting and, perhaps, surprising results are in work.
DeletePerhaps you can make a figure count and pass those results along to Peter (Gonsalvo) above?
Thank Jonathan interesting analysis as always. I suppose my thoughts are probably the same as last year. With a wide range of periods and gaming genres size needs to be related most to the Size of the battle, the space and the storage. I think I can see the advantage to all the different scales.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Matt! Many, many more opportunities for dissecting the survey results. For this analysis, many could have forecast the results. Pairing size of figure to size of battle is an important consideration, for sure.
DeleteNext analysis may provide a more interesting inference as it addresses combining figure size, size of battle, and period into one graphic. we will see if these results match with your intuition.
Given my own gaming experience and observing the group I play with regularly the only surprise to me is the popularity of Ancients - although I realise it is one of the traditionally strong periods from reading others blogs! Personally, I only ever dabbled with 15mm in my late teens, purely based on economics (with the exception of WW2 but that's really because I was very loosely associated with Flames of War/Battlefront when they first started up in NZ). I have 20mm figures for WW2 games like Chain of Command and also for the "War on Terror" modern era - and then everything else I have is 25/28mm. The reason is simple - the larger scale figures just look nicer - you can paint them to a more pleasing standard and with a little effort, give them some individual personality. I spend much more hobby time painting than I do gaming, so I want that part to be fun and rewarding too. Unlike Steve J I have zero interest in a game using wooden blocks, as my priorities are different from his!
ReplyDeleteHi Keith, lo0ks like your group enjoyed a marvelous wargaming holiday week away. Lucky guys!
DeleteAncients covers a wide swath of historical conflicts so I would expect to see such a large bite of history being of interest to many.
You make a good point on why you paint and game in 25/28mm. The larger figures do look good and with my aging eyes are easier to paint but I still enjoy painting the smaller figures for bigger battles. From the looks of your group's games, the larger figures do not prevent you from fielding very large games!
Thanks for contributing your thoughts to the discussion!
Nice post Jonathan. It’s no surprise to me that 28mm is the most popular but I would wager that is linked to the rise of skirmish gaming in our hobby over the last 10 years. I do wonder if there will be a link between miniature size and game type. For instance I bet that 15mm popularity will increase when indexed with a preference for big battles. Probably because of table size as you can do a big battle on a more modest table using smaller scales.
ReplyDeleteI do really enjoy reading these dives into the survey and all the discussion these posts generate. 😀
Glad to see you continue to enjoy these posts, Stew! The types of analysis to be pulled from these data seem almost limitless, for now.
DeleteAs for your hunch on the relationship between period, figure size, and game type, you could be writing copy for this next post!